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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. net — after costs
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. cold — an illness
  5. squash — to crush
  6. squash — the sport
  7. ground — crushed
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ball — a great time
  12. net — in sport
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. ball — a dance
  18. bark — to shout
  19. ground — a position
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. net — for catching

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com